Ediţia a IV-a a Festivalului de film documentar dedicat drepturilor omului propune şi în acest an o serie de filme documentare interesante, acoperind o sarie de tematici cum ar fi: suferinţa, injustiţia, corupţia, conflictele de familie şi, nu în ultimul rând istoria.
Filmele din acest an din secţiunea Cum se (re)scrie istoria sunt în număr de 5, iar despre acestea, în prezentarea secţiunii, organizatorii spun următoarele: „Istoria modernă e scrisă în imagini. Uneori imaginile sunt înşelătoare (precum cele filmate în ghetto-ul din Varşovia) iar regizorii trebuie să descifreze arhivele şi să vadă dincolo de suprafaţă. Uneori, imaginile sunt de ajutor: a privi azi imagini româneşti filmate imediat după Revoluţie este arheologie pentru minte. Probabil că am uitat cum ne purtam. Tot aşa, am uitat cum o generaţie întreagă, trăind călare pe comunism şi capitalism, a făcut acest salt impresionant de la una la alta. Sau să fi fost, de fapt, o cădere?
Exista multe alte moduri prin care documentarele abordează trecutul recent: Patricio Guzman sapă după victime pierdute, ascunse sub nisipul deşertului Atacama şi scrutează cerul pentru un răspuns. În Cambodgia, regizorii îi caută pe cei responsabili de orori. Cu alte cuvinte, ororile primesc o identitate. Este deja ceva, este aproape justiţie. Bine-ar fi să avem şi în România un album de familie de acest gen.
Cele 5 filme sunt:
Prezentarea tuturor filmelor în limba română se găseşte pe site-ul Festivalului, iar cea în limba engleza poate fi consultată mai jos.
WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD(?!) O lume minunata(?!)
Note: the films numbered with A) and B) will be screened together.
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OPENING FILM
A film about people who are so uncompromisingly driven in their quest to do good, that they become a burden to society.
Director: Lutz Heineking, jr., Producer: Ute Dilger, Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln - Cologne Academy of Media Arts, Year of completion: 2008, 18:40 min. Mockumentary
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What would you do for Money? / CE AI FACE PENTRU BANI?
1. VOUS ETES SERVIS / Jorge Leon, prod. Derives, (Belgium, 2010, 58 min.)
Highlight: produced by the company of the Dardenne brothers
It’s a series of stories from Indonesian women going to work abroad, how they are trained, where they come from, on the backdrop of letters they send when they are already gone.
1 B). Donation Addiction
A film about people who are so uncompromisingly driven in their quest to do good, that they become a burden to society.
Director: Lutz Heineking, jr., Producer: Ute Dilger, Kunsthochschule für Medien Köln - Cologne Academy of Media Arts, Year of completion: 2008, 18:40 min. Mockumentary
2. ALL FOR THE GOOD OF THE WORLD AND NOSOVICE NO ANSWER! (Czech, director: Vit Klusak, 2010, 82 min.) It fits very well, this story of a Hyundai plant built in a farming region, and how the farmers gave up in front of this implantation that had the support of the Czech state. Plus it’s humourous.
3. THIEVES BY LAW (director: Alexander Gentelev, Germany-Israel, 90 min.)
Highlight: unprecedented access to the Russian mafia /shown in Tribeca
Made famous by the feature film Eastern Promises, former heads of Russia’s criminal underworld, the vori v zakone, ("Thieves By Law") share their story for the first time with the world. The thugs who transformed into reputable businessmen reveal in the most intimate detail how they came to influence Russia's economy as it emerged from decades of Soviet rule, and how they used their vast wealth to build up a political base in a land that once treated them as common criminals.
3 B. Bonus from Kapitalism – our improved formula. Patriciu? A Restaurant called Grandeur? Diaconescu? (cca 7 minutes)
4. VIDEOCRACY – Sweden/Denmark, directed by Erik Gandini, 90 min. How Berlusconi mastered Italy through television ; incredible similarities with Romania, chilling and great! Definitely Yes for me.
Highlight: film was banned in Italy.
5. PIT NO. 8 (directed by Marianna Kaat, Estonia-Ukraine 2010, 95 minutes). The story of an Ukrainian family in the mining region, with 3 kids working in an illegal mine (plus – the father has been manager of a huge plant that collapsed during perestroika)./ Funny, clever, moving. A big picture through a little desperate family. http://www.deckert-distribution.com/films/deckert_286.htm
6. EL SICARIO – ROOM 164 (directed by Gianfranco Rosi, France/Italy, 2010, 81 minutes). In a motel room where he once conducted an execution, a former killer for the drug cartel describes his past 20 years and how he ran away from his Patron. / A very tough film that talks about state-wide corruption, violence and repentance. The film was selected for the Venice FF, Orizzonti, we have shown „Below sea level” from the same director.
Highlight: premiered in Venice FF, Orizzonti
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DESPERATE CITIES / ORASE IN CRIZA
COULD ALSO BE THE THEME OF A SPECIAL SCREENING, depending on the guests presence. http://www.dfi.dk/faktaomfilm/danishfilms/dffilm.aspx?id=22407
A portrait of two mayors of Bogota, that decided to fight the fatal situation in the capital of Colombia. The first one is quite an character, and it all seems bizarre but seems to lead to changes.
8. MEN OF THE CITY (UK, Marc Isaacs, 60 min.) I liked it, I think we should definitely have this.
8 B) PIT HOLE (Estonia, Director: Jiří Stejskal, 2010, 23 minutes) / A story about one unusual Kiev family fighting against real estate lawlesness. Nataliya, the head of the family, is trying to preserve the family village house, now surrounded by modern living quarters. Besides that she has to take care of her four children, two husbands and a little herd of mischievous goats...
9. GARBAGE DREAMS (Egypt/USA, directed by Mai Iskander, 85 minutes) A bit repetitive in the American way, but a great topic that talks on several themes in a subtle way: globalization, ecology, minorities, etc. And wonderful characters. Also – between Cairo and Bucharest, as with Bogota, one could find similarities. http://www.garbagedreams.com/
10. NAPOLI, NAPOLI, NAPOLI / directed by Abel Ferrara, 1h 40 min., Italy 2009. Amazing picture on the city’s desperate situation, explains the roots and functioning of the Camorra – against the background of an inefficient and corrupt state. The film is at times incoherent, it’s full of mistakes but still has a sort of magic.
HOMEMADE VIOLENCE / AFACERI CASNICE
11 A) LITTLE BRIDE / Przyrzeczona
Director: Lesław Dobrucki, Poland, 2010, 14 min / Watched it and liked it, it’s very simple and striking / Jihlava
Permeated by an atmosphere of disquiet, Polish director Lesław Dobrucki’s inventively-edited documentary focuses on a Turkish girl who, at the bidding of her family, was forced to marry in Germany at age 13. She barely managed to escape being beaten to death by her brutal husband.
11. FAMILY INSTINCT / (directed by Andris Gauja, Latvia 2010, 58 minutes) a film about incest - an illegal act, social taboo and a violation of religious norms. Zanda is a 28-year-old woman, worn out by hard work. Surrounded by poverty and despair, she is trying to survive with her two children in a god-forsaken Latvian village. Her hardships can be traced back to living in a relationship with her brother Valdis. When Valdis is put in jail, the local community forces her to make a difficult choice: to stay with him or with her children.
12. OCTOBER COUNTRY (dir. Michael Palmieri & Donal Mosher, US, 85 minutes)
A family portrait / low class / white trash family in the US, that is dealing with basically everything a family can. Violence on women, social exclusion, adolescent problems, early motherhood…. On side also topics as child abuse, ghost hunting or whatever u imagine. It is quite incredible to make this movie in such a light and amusing way./ It makes u connected to all characters and really enjoy watching this movie. I would definitely take it, if it fits a cathegory to put it in. YES!
13. PINK SARIS / directed by Kim Longinotto, 95 min., 2010, UK. Sampat Pal travels through India to help abused women, usually from the untouchable’s caste, that are trying to get away from their violent families. / Not the best film from Longinotto, but definitely moving and interesting to watch, with a central character that sometimes fails or more, does wrong to the poor women she tries to help.
14. AGNUS DEI – THE LAMB OF GOD (directed by Alejandra Sanchez, 84 min, 2010, Mexico-France) / Jesus became an altar child because his mother wanted to; Jesus was then abused by father Lopez for years. Today he looks for the priest, trying to get to terms with this trauma. / An amazingly cinematic film about suffering, about kids being brought up to be priests and repressing sexuality, about a family who abandoned its child for the honor of getting closer to the church.
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INTOLERANCE TODAY/
INTOLERANTA NOASTRA CEA DE TOATE ZILELE:
The camp, home to Roma and located in Rome’s Centocello neighborhood, represents normality. The world outside is a “hobby” and they don’t know precisely what it is. Or it’s a dream that fills out their reality. Reality is for them a dreary life of poverty and even worse prospects for employment. For this reason the young people who are given an opportunity to work with cameras and ask the questions in this video project tend to depict themselves while dreaming. Or actively shaping a social role they grow out of in their play with and in front of the camera rather than (re)presenting it as their personal fate.
15. THE NEW SAINT / dir. Allard Detiger, 69 min., Netherlands/Belgium, 2010.
Soldier Rodionov was beheaded by the Chechen rebels and many Russians see him now as a saint. He was the only child of his mother Liubov. / Powerful and subtle, the film talks about many things: this blend of nationalism, orthodoxy and militarism that is so close to us, but taken to the extreme in Russia; on the other hand, the atrocious grief of the mother, a victim in many ways, makes the things more complicated. A must for our section.
Great film! On two fundamentalists, one Christian from Missouri and one converted Muslim from London / during the film they get more and more radical, the filmmaker manages to make them talk to each other, which has dramatic repercussions on both.
17 A) THE PERFECT BELGIAN (director: Kristof Bilsen, UK/Belgium 2010, 35 min.) What means to be a Belgian today – after years of intolerance on both sides, Flemish and Wallons? / Funny and very Belgian indeed, the best Belgians are the black immigrants.
17. LONE SAMARITAN (directed by Barak Heymann, Israel, 50 min. 2010) The Samaritans, a tiny religious sect, are dying out. But they still maintain extremely harsh rules against assimilation: if you leave the fold, you and your family are as good as dead. Israeli actress Sophie Tzedaka is one such woman. One by one, she and her three sisters became "Jews" and were excommunicated by their 700-person community. So was their father.
"Lone Samaritan" is a touching father-daughter journey that transcends all beliefs. It explores universal issues of faith and modernity, the role of women in religion, and the individual's right to forge an independent identity.
"Lone Samaritan" is a touching father-daughter journey that transcends all beliefs. It explores universal issues of faith and modernity, the role of women in religion, and the individual's right to forge an independent identity.
18. Part of the Special Roma Screening: THE CORLAT VALLEY (directed by Stephane Lucon, Romania/France, 53 min. 2010) On the Corlat valley, which represents the border between the Brasov and Covasna counties, a Roma community belonging to the neighboring village has built illegally their houses on the grounds of the other county. Due to this situation, the Romas are left with no ID’s, no utilities and no medical care; they are since a long time thrown as a ping-pong ball among the authorities from both sides. /
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(RE)WRITING HISTORY / CUM SE (RE)SCRIE ISTORIA
19. NOSTALGIA FOR THE LIGHT (director: Patricio Guzman, Chile/France/Germany, 90 min.). It’s a poetic film on victims of Pinochet buried in the Atacama desert, centered around a telescope that is there and astronomy as a metaphor./ I prefer it to „Edificio de los Chilenos” (it’s more unusual as a film on the same topic, Edificio is kind of predictable). What is good about Edificio is that it talks from another point of view on the „idealist political fight”, talking about the abandoned kids and the traumas they suffered because their parents were political engaged.
20. ENEMIES OF THE PEOPLE (dir: Rob Lemkin and Thet Sambath) UK, Cambodia, 2010, 93’. On Cambodian killing fields, during the Khmer rouge: a journalist whose father was killed then, starts meeting the killers. A very good film on a quest, amazing to see the uneducated farmers who were used as killers, starting to repent in front of the camera.
Highlight: winner Special Jury Award Sundance
21. AFTER THE REVOLUTION / Romania 2010, dir. Laurentiu Calciu, 90 min. / this one is an archive film of material shot in 1990, it is somehow not structured but I think it is interesting mainly for a Romanian audience.
22. MY PERESTROIKA / USA 2010, dir: Robin Hessmann, 87 minutes / MY PERESTROIKA follows five ordinary Russians living in extraordinary times — from their sheltered Soviet childhood, to the collapse of the Soviet Union during their teenage years, to the constantly shifting political landscape of post-Soviet Russia. Together, these childhood classmates paint a complex picture of the dreams and disillusionment of those raised behind the Iron Curtain. / We have to take this, it is the film of my generation.
23 B). A FILM UNFINISHED – Israel, 2010, 88 min., directed by Yael Hersonski, produced by Noemi Schory, http://www.afilmunfinished.com/ / holocaust, found footage of a Nazi film made in the Warsaw ghetto, that uses real people to reenact scenes serving antisemitic propaganda.
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REAL HEROES? / TRUE BASTARDS?
INGLORIOUS HEROES?! EROI FARA GLORIE
24 A) REDISCOVERING PAPE (Poland, Spain / Director: Maria Royo, 2009, 26 minutes) Maria Royo attempts to reconcile her memories of a close childhood relationship to her great-grandfather, with the discovery of his past as a Nazi official. In this heartfelt documentary, Maria travels through Europe to trace her great-grandfather's footsteps, break her family's silence, and discover the true nature of complicated choices. / Sometimes expedited, but interesting as a counter-perspective on the nature of evil.
24 B) THE FLOOD / POPLAVA
Croatia, 2010, DigiBeta, Colour, 40 min. Director and screenplay: Goran Dević (Very nice film on an abandoned village where a handful of people help the others survive a massive flood that cuts them from the rest of the world.)
Croatia, 2010, DigiBeta, Colour, 40 min. Director and screenplay: Goran Dević (Very nice film on an abandoned village where a handful of people help the others survive a massive flood that cuts them from the rest of the world.)
25. THE OATH / (director: Laura Poitras, 90 min., US 2010) on Iraq, centered on a former Bin Laden follower, who was his driver, has been investigated and detained by the CIA for years and is trying to cope with that. http://www.theoathmovie.com/
26. WAR DON DON (Sierra Leone, US / directed by Rebecca Richman Cohen, 2010, 83 min.) Peace or justice? Is this a criminal or a humanitarian before the Special Court for Sierra Leone? The story of the trial of the chief-commander of the rebels who committed atrocities and then gave in for peace. / The film is good and entertaining in a way, it speaks a lot on international justice since Nurnberg. http://www.wardondonfilm.com/
27. Special Screening: WILLIAM KUNSTLER – DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE (dir: Emily and Sarah Kunstler, US, 2010 90 min.) In William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe filmmakers Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler explore the life of their father, the late radical civil rights lawyer. In the 1960s and 70s, Kunstler fought for civil rights with Martin Luther King Jr. and represented the famed “Chicago 8” activists who protested the Vietnam War. But when they were growing up, Kunstler represented some of the most reviled members of society, including rapists and assassins./ http://disturbingtheuniverse.com/
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| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPECIAL SCREENINGS: 1. „AFTER THE REVOLUTION” / with a debate on Romanian transition. Or BOGOTA CHANGE / DEPENDING ON THE MAYOR’S PRESENCE 2. WILLIAM KUNSTLER – DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE (dir: Emily and Sarah Kunstler, US, 2010 90 min.) In William Kunstler: Disturbing the Universe filmmakers Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler explore the life of their father, the late radical civil rights lawyer. In the 1960s and 70s, Kunstler fought for civil rights with Martin Luther King Jr. and represented the famed “Chicago 8” activists who protested the Vietnam War. But when they were growing up, Kunstler represented some of the most reviled members of society, including rapists and assassins. / Maybe, very naive in fact, but an interesting, ambiguous character. / http://disturbingtheuniverse.com/ 3. BURMA SOLDIER (dir: Nic Dunlop, Annie Sundberg) US/Ireland, 2010, 68 min. A former soldier in the Burmese army goes into the opposition camp, after he suffers a severe strike on the frontline and is left handicapped./ A pity for the demonstrative narrative and narration, but the story is impressive and „burmese”... 4. Roma / integration = mission impossible? Selectie de 5 Filme scurte (cate unul din Bulgaria, Cehia, Slovacia, Ungaria si Romania): DESPRE ROMI, DINCOLO DE STEREOTIPURI (circa 20 minute) http://roma.glocalstories.org/ and THE CORLAT VALLEY (Romania-France, Director: Stephane Lucon, 2010, 53 minutes) On the Corlat valley, which represents the border between the Brasov and Covasna counties, a Roma community belonging to the neighboring village has built illegally their houses on the grounds of the other county. Due to this situation, the Romas are left with no ID’s, no utilities and no medical care; they are since a long time thrown as a ping-pong ball among the authorities from both sides. / Monday 21st: 5 A) A WORK-IN-PROGRESS PRESENTATION OF „ODESSA”/directed by FLORIN IEPAN We would do this for 1 hour before the following special screening in MTR.5. Film and corruption: "CENTER FOR WASHING FILMS" / Srdjan Knezevic, 90 minutes, Serbia: it's a film on the destruction of the film industry in Serbia with all the corruption included, privatization of cinemas, corrupt spending of funding, etc. I would very much like to make a special screening on that/ it's also very similar to our caseand it would bring the film community together. x x x *nu primim de lucru pt ca suntem romi / bulg, 3’30 dezvoltarea industriei ameninta un sat / bulg, 3’47’’ te aperi de pericolele strazii / cehia, 3’11’’ *in favoarea educatiei / cehia, 3’48’’ O poarta deschisa / cehia, 2’56’’ |
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